Assassin
by Dani the Witch
Summary: She was born to kill - literally. Trained as an assassin from a young age, her mission is to kill the famous Maximum Ride, leader of the flock.
1. Mission

New story time! Kind of gave up on the Flock's Halloween story. Not like anyone read that anyway.

I inhale slowly, concentrating. I raise my gun, pointing it at my target.

Today is my day. I will not fail.

My sharp vision let me see her features clearly, even from this distance. Every detail is plainly visible : her plain brown hair and deep brown eyes, so unaware of what is about to happen.

I adjust the angle of my gun. The other five are unimportant. Useless to me, at least. Without their leader, the flock can't function.

And that is precisely why I am trained to kill Maximum Ride.

I pull the trigger, and faster than the blink of an eye, blood begins to blossom on her shirt, right near her heart. His wings falter, and then she begins falling.

I can hear the screams of the younger ones as she quickly plummets towards the earth. The one called Dylan swoops down, but he is too late. He is not as advanced at flying as the others, or as fast. Maximum hits the ground with a shockingly loud thud.

_Looks like you're not so invincible, Maximum Ride,_ I think. Then the whole world goes dark.

"Very good, Zoey!" a voice calls out and applause can be heard from behind me. I pull off my helmet, shaking my strawberry blonde hair out of my face. "That's the fifth time this week you managed to kill her."

_Well, that's a weird sentence,_ I think. I set the virtual reality helmet on a table beside me and a scientist takes the gun away. It's a fake gun. I guess they don't want me to kill them or something.

Not like I would, anyway. My sights are set on only one person. Maximum Ride.

"Zoey," another voice says. I walk over to Luke, the guy who is in charge of my training. I guess you could call him my coach. He's only a few years older than me, eighteen or nineteen at the oldest. He has hair that's so blonde it's almost white. You'd probably expect to see him at a beach surfing, not in a lab.

"Yeah, Luke?" I cross my arms over my chest. "What is it?"

"That was excellent," he says. It's very rare that he praises me, so I can tell he's pleased. "You may be permitted to go on your first field training mission soon."

I feel like jumping up and down. Only the most exceptional people get to leave the School to participate in training. Of course, I don't jump up and down. "Sweet."

Luke smiles. "I thought you'd be pleased."

Pleased? I'm ecstatic. I just don't show it.

"Well, time for you to go back to your room," another scientist says, walking over to me. I make a face.

The scientist grabs my arm and steers me down the hall towards my room. I wave good-bye to Luke.

"Here we are," the guy says, sounding bored. I think his name is Jeff or something. Oh, yeah, because I call him Depressed Jeff. He's always talking in a monotone and looking, well, depressed.

I flash my ID card at a hidden sensor on the door. Only I and certain scientists are allowed to come in my room. Depressed Jeff is not one of them. Luke, however, is.

My room was designed originally by the scientists. That was when I was new to the assassin program, only eight years old at the time. Until then, I had lived in a cage in the lab. When I was thirteen, I basically remodeled my room. It's pretty awesome, let me tell you. There are three different rooms. I have a kitchen, full of snacks and plenty of cooking stuff, because the scientists expect me to make my own food. They're too busy fooling around with DNA to make homemade meals. Next to the kitchen, I have a bathroom, with is pretty basic. My personal favorite room is the main one, which is my sitting area-slash-bedroom. Three walls are painted the color of the sky, though one is covered by posters of my favorite bands, such as Paramore, the Beatles, and many others. The fourth wall is my canvas. It's a big collage of whatever I feel like painting. I have a big, king-sized bed covered by sky-blue sheets and a quilt. There's a flat-screen TV on one wall with a couple of beanbags and a beat-up but still comfortable couch. A few bookshelves chockfull of books are pushed against one wall, and a desk covered by forgotten homework is next to my bed. A small closet is nestled between the TV and bookshelves.

It's a pretty sweet place.

I wander over to my canvas wall, looking at all of the pictures I painted. One is a fake window, showing a happy sun and smiling animals and lots of trees and flowers. I painted that when I was about ten years old. I've never been outside, so I rely on my imagination and TV to show me what the real world is like.

I walk over the TV and flip it on. My all-time favorite show, Glee, is on. As I watch it, I wonder what it would be like to go to a normal high school, full of normal people. I'm sure they don't have to worry about killing targets.

Glee ends and a news commercial comes on. "Strange bird-kids seen near Anaheim, California! Stay tuned to Fox News at Eleven!" Then the commercial ends and another commercial for cat food takes its place.

I rush over to my intercom and call Luke. "Luke, to my room, please."

"I'll be right there, Zoey."

Pretty soon, my door slides open. One of the things about my room is that I can't get out myself, but I can get in myself. If I want to get out of my room, it has to be authorized. There's no door handle on the inside of my room, and my door is always locked.

Luke walks over to me. I'm sitting on my bed now.

"You saw the commercial," he realizes.

"You did too," I point out. "Luke, this is our chance._ My_ chance." He must hear the determination in my voice. "I've been training since I was eight years old for this opportunity. I'm sixteen now. That's six years of training, Luke. I've gotten perfect scores on my training for as long as I can remember. I think I'm ready."

And to my surprise, Luke nods. "Yes. You are."

Before I know it, I'm in the Prep room, being prepared for the mission. I still have my training suit on. It can blend into the background at any command, so that no one sees me. Its full name is the Camouflage Suit, but I call it the Camo for short. Boots are laced up on my feet, and my hair is pulled back in a tight braid. A gun is pressed into my hands. A real gun.

"You sure you can handle this?" Luke says as we're sitting in the helicopter, minutes away from our destination.

I nod confidently. "Six years of training, Luke."

"You can handle the gun?"

"Must I remind you of the training I've had, Luke?"

He smiles. "I think you're ready, Zoey."

"Here we are!" the pilot calls over the drone of the helicopter blades. I nod and stand up.

Luke nods at me as I yank the helicopter door open. "You've got this, Zoey. Call us when you're done, and we'll come get you."

Though that won't be necessary, I nod back.. "See you in a few." I leap out of the helicopter, feeling the air rush against my face. My Camo blends to match the blue tone of the sky, so no one will panic. I don't want them to see a strange girl falling from above.

_I can do this,_ I assure myself. I have no doubts. Because I was literally born to kill.


	2. Anaheim?

**Forgot the disclaimer. Oh, and if you guys can guess where she is, then….um, Brownie Points to you.**

**Disclaimer : Maximum Ride and all of James Patterson's characters don't belong to me. Also, Tron doesn't belong to me.**

**Claimer: Zoey and her awesome room belong to me.**

The ground is rapidly approaching. I prepare to land the way I've hundreds, no, thousands of times in training.

I yank on a cord on the Camo, and a parachute comes fluttering out. For a second, I doubt it will hold me, then it catches me and I float slowly down to the ground. Since the parachute is connected to the Camo, it too blends in with the color of the sky.

I can't help but stare at everything as I slowly stand up and get my bearings. Everything seems so….normal.

This appears to be the strangest place, I think as I bundle up the parachute. In front of me, a big pink castle shimmers and sparkles in the sunlight. The other way, the street seems to have a more normal look, clustered with cutesy little shops and boutiques.

No one is here. It's eerily deserted.

No, wait. Here come people.

This is strange. A little boy races past me, sporting some sort of hat with mouse ears. Another seems to be wearing a cap shaped like a dog's head.

Just what kind of town is this? I didn't expect Anaheim to be _this_ strange.

"Hi!" a little boy says, running up to me. He too has a mouse ear hat. "Are you from the movie Tron? That's my favorite movie!"

I look down at my Camo, which has gone back to its original black color, and groan. It does resemble the outfits worn in the movie Tron. I haven't seen that movie, but I saw the previews during commercial breaks.

"Sure," I murmur. If this kid thinks I'm from a movie, I'll just go along with it. "Yeah, I'm from that movie."

The kid looks thrilled. "Wow! Will you sign my autograph book?"

"Alright," I agree, and the kid hands me a notepad. "What's your name, kid?"

"Freddie." The kid's eyes are bulging so much that I expect them to pop out onto the ground.

"Okay, Freddie," I say, _writing Freddie, you rock. Love, Zoey._

He eagerly reaches out for his notepad. "Thanks! I didn't know there was a Zoey in the Tron movie!"

"Well, now you do," I inform him. I ruffle his hair. "Now go on, have fun in your strange little town of Anaheim."

The kid smiles one more time, then runs off, screaming, "Someone from Tron signed my autograph book!"

Okay. I decide I can't go around looking like a movie character, so I command my Camo to look like a tank top and jeans.

There, much better.

I stroll down the street like I'm a regular citizen. And then I see the creepiest thing in the world.

A guy in a giant mouse costume.

"God, what a weird place," I muttered.

"Max, can we go on Space Mountain! Please please please with a cherry on top?"

"Okay, sure, Nudge."

There. That voice. I'd know that voice anywhere. The voice of Maximum Ride.

I casually glance behind me, and there she is. Plain brown hair and deep brown eyes, crinkled with laughter at the youngest boy's antics.

"Aw! Space Mountain has a wait of twenty minutes!" the middle girl whines. I groan. I can't stand whiners.

"I'll get ice cream," the tall blind one volunteers.

"I'll go too!" the two younger girls chime in.

"And me!" the youngest boy adds.

"Okay," Maximum says. "I'll wait in line."

Good, I think. Better to get her alone, than with the flock. Now if Dylan volunteered to go, everything would be perfect.

"I'll stay with Max," I hear. Maximum and I seem to groan simultaneously.

Dylan and Maximum walk into the Space Mountain line. I follow them. What is a Space Mountain, anyway? I had no clue that there were mountains in space.

My Camo blends into the background as they enter the building. I'm happy that it's dark in here, as they aren't able to see me easily.

I scurry down the dark corridor. Just what kind of building is this?

Maximum and Dylan approach the main room, which is huge. I look down and see what appears to be…some sort of ride.

I bend down and scoop a piece of paper off the floor. _Welcome to Disneyland!_ The caption says in huge, colorful block letters.

I curse silently to myself. A theme park. A freaking theme park? Why the hell are they at a theme park?

Well, there's no way to kill her now, because we're surrounded by tourists.

Great. I understand why they are at a theme park now. It's because there are so many people that the flock would be hard to track down.

"Disneyland," I whisper into my communication device. Luke should be hearing it. "They're at Disneyland. How the heck do I kill them?"

Luke's voice says, "I thought you could handle this mission. If you're not ready-"

"Never mind," I growl. "I'll do it."

Dylan and Maximum are getting in one of the little cars now. Apparently, the rest of the flock members didn't catch up, which is fine with me.

_Here's my chance_, I think, standing up on the railing and raising my gun. My Camo keeps the tourists from seeing me, but suddenly a little blond girl appears right behind me and says, "I'm not sure that's the best idea."

Forgot about the mind-reader! Dammit, what am I going to do now?

"Put the gun down before I force you to," the girl says.

I obey, but I'm not planning on giving up the mission.

"Yes, you are," the girl says. Suddenly I hear in my head: _You're going to drop the gun and leave the park._

"Angel, who are you talking to?" the middle girl, Nudge, calls from behind her.

I smile at the little girl, Angel. "Sorry, sweetie, but your mind control doesn't work on me."

"Angel, who is that? Where's that voice coming from?" the youngest boy asks.

"She's trying to kill us," Angel whispers to him.

I laugh. "Oh, no. Not you. You're weak and I don't need to bother killing you."

I raise the gun again, angled at Max. There, almost got it.

Then two things happen simultaneously – I pull the trigger at the same time Angel shoves me off the railing.

**Cliffhanger time!**


	3. Recruit

**A/N: Sorry, I was busy. Please read and review, I only have 1 review so far!**

The railing where I had been standing was at least four stories up, and now I'm plummeting quickly towards the ground. I hear a scream and realize my bullet had hit someone – but not Maximum.

I glance over and see the ride attendant laying on the ground in a puddle of her own blood.

Damn, I think, landing on the ground perfectly. I hear Angel suck in an astonished breath from above, but I ignore her and the others. I press a button on my wrist-watch, which is also a communication device. "Send backup," I whisper into it.

I advance towards Maximum, holding my gun so that it's aimed right at her.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked, mixed emotions on her face. Concern for her flock. Anger at me. Confusion at why I, a normal looking girl, am trying to kill her.

"Your worst nightmare," I snarl, about to pull the trigger when a boot slams into the side of my head.

I stagger back, the gun flying out of my hands. Regaining my balance, I whirl to see Dylan standing there, scooping up my gun. He holds it towards me.

"Make any moves and I'll shoot you," he growls.

"Dylan, I can fight my own battles," Maximum replies.

"She was about to kill you," Dylan replies. Now the other flock members are advancing towards us, shoving tourists out of the way. Most of the tourists have evacuated the building already.

"And I still am!" I yell. I don't have time for their little arguments, I have to kill Maximum before security comes.

I whip out my knife and grab the youngest girl, Angel. I hold my knife to her throat.

"Let's see, Dylan. I'll give you two choices. Shoot me, and I kill your little friend Angel. Or, you can drop the gun."

I feel disappointment that Maximum's close friend Fang isn't here, otherwise he'd be the one I'd hold a knife next to. But he's not here.

Conflict is clearly seen on Maximum's face. She obviously wants to kill me, but she can't do that without me killing Angel.

Besides, I do have a bulletproof vest. The scientists always want me to be prepared.

"Shoot her," Maximum orders. "She can't kill Angel if she's dead."

I press my knife into Angel's neck. "So that's your decision?"

Angel gives a yelp of pain as blood starts to run down her neck. "Max! Help!"

"Let go of her," Maximum orders.

"Drop the gun," I command to Dylan.

He drops it, and I laugh. "Dude, you're an idiot." Keeping a tight grip on Angel's arm, I run out of the emergency exit door to a helicopter. I push Angel onto the helicopter. The rest of her flock run out behind me, screaming, "ANGEL!"

I laugh as the helicopter zooms away.

...

"Let me out," the girl orders, her skinny arms crossed over her chest. Her limp blonde curls just rush her shoulders, and the cut on her neck is now covered by a bandage.

"Girl, if I knew a way to get out of here, I would have left long ago," I inform her. Angel doesn't say anything, but her blue eyes calmly follow me as I cross the room to sit next to her on the couch.

"What do you want to watch?" I ask her, turning on the TV. "Spongebob, Phineas and Ferb, some anime show called Ouran High School Host Club…take your pick."

Angel just stares at me. "Why am I here?"

"Isn't that obvious?" I ask. "You're a hostage. The scientists, whitecoats as you call them, are keeping you here, because we know that Maximum will come to get you. And when she does, I pull the trigger, and boom, she's dead."

Angel's mouth opens in surprise, then says, "You know I can-"

I laugh. "Yeah, I know you can send her a message with your mind. But the question is, are you actually going to?"

"Huh?" Angel asks. "Of course I am-"

"I must say, you're a smart girl," I interrupt. "Have you ever considered being an assassin?"

"A what?" Angel manages to get out.

"An assassin. Think about it. You kill Maximum Ride. You become the leader of the flock. Come on, Angel. We both know that's what you want."

"I could be the leader?" Angel's eyes are wide.

"Yeah, you could. All you have to do is pull the trigger and shoot Max dead, then you're in charge. What do you say?"

"I've always wanted to be the leader- " Angel says, her eyes shimmering with hope.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I ask, smiling at her. "I'll call Luke, my trainer. He'll be so excited."

I smile at Angel. "We never properly met. I'm Zoey. And you're-"

"Angel," she says, smiling back. "Glad to be of service."

...

"Very nice, Angel!" Luke calls. Angel beams and yanks her knife out of the target that was set up. She's not very good with a gun, but excellent at throwing knives.

"How do we know she's not going to turn around and kill us any second?" one of the scientists says from behind me. I grit my teeth. They said the same thing when I started training.

Angel's perfect hearing picks up on their conversation. "Because my sights are set on one person, and one person only. Maximum Ride." She looks at me. "Right, Zoey?"

"Right," I said, smiling, then toss my own knife at the target. It lands just short of the center ring.

I hear a soft smacking noise as Angel's own knife hits the center of the target. I glance over at her still-smiling face.

_That's my little assassin_, I think, and she beams happily, obviously reading my mind.

At this rate, Maximum Ride would be dead in no time.

**So, Angel joined the assassin training program. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Anger at me making Angel join the evil people? Leave a review! Oh, and part of the next chapter will be in Max's point of view.**


	4. Surprise

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update! Anyways, please enjoy!**

…

Max's Point of View

"They took my sister!" the Gasman yells, kicking the couch in our hotel room as hard as he can. "Again!"

"Gazzy, I'm sorry-"

"Why didn't you go after her?" he shouts, throwing a pillow halfway across the room.

"Gazzy. They had guns. And a chopper. We had what, a talking dog?" At this, Total gives me a glare – well, if dogs _can_ even glare.

He sinks down in a chair. "Lemme guess. They took her to the School, right?"

"Someone's a genius," Iggy mutters, walking in the room.

"Aw, be quiet already!"

"Make me."

"Can't you see I'm mad about Angel's kidnapping?"

"No," Iggy says. "I can't see."

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. You knew it was a bad day when the Gasman and Iggy weren't getting along. They were the best of friends almost all the time.

"What I still don't understand is why we didn't go on a rescue mission yet," Nudge twists a strand of hair around her index finger. "Angel needs us."

"We needed to come back, get some supplies, rest, you know-"

Nudge stands up. "Well, Angel can't wait any longer for us. Imagine how badly the whitecoats might be treating her right now!" I think we all shuddered when she said this, remembering the horrible years we spent in the School.

I grab my backpack. "Right. You guys, let's go."

And then the window smashes in, spilling shards of glass all over us. I wince as a piece of glass digs its way into my skin.

I grimace when I see that girl there. The one who had kidnapped Angel.

"What did you do to Angel?" I growl.

She smiles. "See for yourselves."

She steps aside, and everyone gasps, because Angel is standing there, perfectly unharmed except for the almost-healed gash on her neck.

"Angel!" Gazzy exclaims.

"Honey, you alright?" I ask her, sighing with relief.

Ignoring my question, she smirks and pulls out a knife, which glints in the sunlight. "Time to die, Max."

Zoey's Point of View

I nod encouragingly at Angel. _Good girl,_ I think.

The expression on Maximum's face is priceless. Clearly, she was not expecting this.

"What did you do to Angel?" she growls at me.

I wave my hand dismissively. "Oh, Maximum. It seems you don't understand Angel at all. She wants to kill you."

I look at Angel. "Right?"

She nods. "Right. Once I kill you, Max, I will take your place as the leader of the flock."

The tall blind one – Iggy, I believe – frowns. "Angel, I'm not sure that's the best way to take control of the flock-"

"Quiet!" Angel commands, pointing her knife at him. "Or I'll kill you too!"

_Our sights are set only on Maximum for right now,_ I remind Angel. _But we can kill the rest of them later._

She gives a tiny nod. _Right._

Then Angel turns back to Max. Before anyone else can move, she's lunged towards Max, knife pointed at her. "Aren't you going to put up a fight, Max?"

Maximum grabs the knife out of Angel's hand and tosses it at the coffee table, where it sticks upright. Then she grabs Angel by the wrist. "Yeah," she says. "I am. But not against you. Angel, you can't be serious about this."

"Oh, Max," Angel says, a smirk on her face. "Aren't you forgetting that I can control you?" Suddenly, a change comes over the older girl's eyes. She nods and says, "That's right, Angel. I will do whatever you say."

The others are frozen – no doubt Angel's controlling them too. They're watching in horror, but unable to move, to say anything. Angel calmly walks over to the table and yanks her knife from it. Then she walks over to Maximum, holding the knife up to the girl's neck.

"Say goodbye, Max," Angel says in her sweet-little-girl voice. Almost mechanically, Max's lips form the word, "Goodbye."

Then Angel slashes the knife across Max's neck. Maximum falls to the floor, unconscious now. I glance at the others – they are still frozen in horror, their eyes wide.

Angel strides over to me and I smile. "It is done."


End file.
